3 former Blue Jays players who should replace John Schneider as manager

Mike Matheny

Another strong candidate to take over the Jays’ dugout would be former catcher Mike Matheny. Matheny was originally drafted by Toronto in the 31st round back in 1988 out of high school. However, he ended up attending college and later became a Milwaukee Brewers eighth-rounder in 1991 instead. Nevertheless, Matheny would eventually make his way back to the Jays for 1999 season through free agency, serving as the backup to Darrin Fletcher at the time. In 57 games, he batted .215 with a .578 OPS, along with 16 runs scored, 6 doubles, 3 home runs and 17 RBI. He may not have posted his best numbers in a Jays’ uniform, but he would go on to have a solid 13-year MLB career, while capturing four Gold Gloves in the process.

With his ability to call a great game along his exceptional defensive skills behind the plate, Matheny would take those skills and knowledge of the game and transfer them over to his managerial duties starting from the 2012 season. In his ten seasons manning the dugout for both the St, Louis Cardinals and later the Kansas City Royals, he helped lead the Cardinals to four playoff berths. That included reaching the World Series in 2013, but falling just short to the Boston Red Sox. In addition, in his seven years with St. Louis, the team never finished below third in the NL Central, along with capturing three division titles along the way. Despite having some less success with the Royals, Matheny was still able to maintain a career .522 winning percentage during the regular season. Overall, he has racked up 756 total wins as a manager, along with 21 more in the postseason.

So if the Jays are looking for someone with great vision and a boatload of winning and playoff experience as a proven manager, Matheny should be their man. He has only been out of baseball for the past couple of years, so he should be hungry to get back into the action when given the opportunity. A reunion with his former team would certainly do the trick.